There was once a little boy called Jake. He lived with his
parents in the Winter months and his grandparents in the Summer
months in a little village called Summerland. The village, was
very grand and had lots and lots of people living in it. There
were lots and lots of things to see and do but people were always
rushing about and always very busy.

One summer, when he was staying with his grandparents, a very
strange thing happened to him. Jake knew that everyone who lived
in Summerland were scared of something. They were all afraid of
the green monster that lived in the hills. Nobody had ever seen
him, but they had all heard him roar when he was angry and cry
when he was sad.

Nobody stayed up when it got dark in case the monster came down
to the village. All of the children were put to bed as soon as
they came home from school. Rarely, children were seen outside of
school unless it was the weekends, and even then they weren't
seen after 4 o'clock.

Jake was a very brave little boy and he was not afraid of
anything or anyone. He told his grandparents that he was going
to see the green monster up in the hills. His grandparents
begged him not to go and were crying and pulling at his clothing
trying to stop him, but he would not listen to them.

Very early the following morning, whilst his grandparents were
still asleep, he packed a small bag with some food and some water
and headed off to the hills to find the green monster.

He had been out for some time and before long it got very dark,
but Jake was not scared. He was far too brave to get scared.

All of a sudden, he heard a very loud roar. It was so loud that
it shook the leave off the trees and made all of the animals run
away. Then he heard the sound of someone crying and a small
stream appeared from the top of the hill and flowed right passed
Jake's feet. Jake climbed up to the top of the hill and there he
found the green monster.

'He does not look like a green monster at all' thought Jake. He
looked like a very large slightly green giant whose clothes did
not fit him and whose shoes were so small that they only fitted
his big toes. Jake felt very sorry for him.

He walked up to the green monster and asked him why he was
crying.

"It's because my feet are so sore," he answered.

"Why have you come up here?" asked the green monster.

"Aren't you scared of me? Everyone else is scared of me and it
makes me very sad!"

Jake answered"I am not afraid of anyone".

The green monster became very angry and started to roar. Jake
shook with fear but he still managed to ask the green monster why
he was making such a loud noise. The green monster answered,
"Because I cannot get my shoes off and my toes hurt".

Jake asked the green monster if he could help him to get his goes
off. The green monster accepted his help.

Jake pulled and pulled at the green monster's shoes but they
would not come off.

"I cannot get them off", he said.

The green monster began to cry.

"Please don't cry green monster" said Jake. "I will get some
help". The green monster stared at Jake and stopped crying.

"Why do you call me a green monster?" he asked. "My name is
Gregory".

"Well" said Jake."All the villagers think that you are very scary
and because you live up in the hills amongst the trees, you must
therefore be green".

Gregory started to laugh. "I am only green because my clothes
are too small and I cannot get them off to wash them. I have to
bathe in the river, which makes my clothes shrink even more".

Jake had a thought. "I will come back tomorrow morning to see
you Gregory, with some help".

Gregory gave Jake a lantern so that he could see where he was
going. Jake thanked him and then set off back down the hill to
the village and back to his grandparents' home.

His grandparents were very happy to see him and they gave him a
big hug. Jake told them all about Gregory and they decided to
ask all of the villagers if they would help him.

The following morning, they all went to see the other villagers
and told them all about Gregory. The tailor and the cobbler
decided to take some material and leather up the hill with Jake
so that they could make Gregory some new clothes and some new
shoes.

The blacksmith fired up the furnace and decided to make a very
large bathing tub, whilst the tailor's wife and several others
worked together to make some rather large towels for Gregory.
Everyone was very excited.

Later the same day, Jake, the cobbler, the tailor and of course
Gregory, came back down the hill into the village. All of the
villagers cheered when they saw them. Gregory looked wonderful
in his grand new clothes and his new shoes which fitted him so
well.

Gregory was so happy. He smiled and waved at everyone and
everyone smiled and waved back. For once in their lives, they
were not scared of him.

The blacksmith presented the bath and the very large bath towels
to Gregory and then Gregory began to cry.

"Why are you crying?" Asked Jake.

"Because I am so happy" answered Gregory. "I have never been
down here before because I have always been so scared of
everyone".

Everyone laughed including Gregory as they all realised how silly
they had been.

Over the next few weeks, the villagers built a very large house
for Gregory to live in and he told them he had never been
happier. Everyone liked him and he had lots and lots of new
friends to talk to.

Nobody ever called him the green monster again. He was always
called Gregory and he was a part of Summerland. Jake visited his
grandparents every year and he and Gregory were friends for many,
many years.